‘Sopranos’ Boss Open to Possibility of Prequel Series

HBO has taken the rare step of developing a prequel (or five) for its biggest hit, so might any other iconic dramas get the same treatment? We’ve heard talk of a Sopranos prequel for years, and creator David Chase says he can envision the possibility of Tony Soprano’s past.

The network has no official plans to resurrect The Sopranos in any form just yet, but Chase tells Entertainment Weekly that a prequel marks the only avenue through which new story should be told. For one, the death of actorJames Gandolfini thoroughly precludes revisiting Tony later in life (if he had one), and Chase says the rest of the cast would be difficult to explore as well:

I wouldn’t want to see [a revival or reboot] happen, no. Like recasting? … Everybody’s getting older, you can’t match people anymore … I could conceive of maybe a prequel of ‘The Sopranos.’ I could never see [a return of the show] except as a prequel.

I’ve had people talk to me about that. I’ve had conversations with some movie studios that want to do it as a film. So far I’ve rejected the idea but I certainly wouldn’t do it as a television show. I’m always disinclined to say, ‘No I’ll never do it.’ But I think I’ll never do it. I’m disinclined to say that because I don’t want my thinking to be constrained. I’ve said it from the beginning: If I had a really good idea and I thought it could be really entertaining and it wouldn’t upset what was done I might do it.